Will Try To Test Virat Kohli With Short Balls: Jake Ball
Jan 18, 2017 at 4:59 PM
England fast bowler Jake Ball has stressed that England side will try hard to test Indian skipper Virat Kohli with the shorter stuff in the remaining two games to gain some momentum in the three-match One-day International series after coming from recent 5-match Test series drubbing by 4-0 which was led by Alastair Cook.
“We’ve got plans for him [Virat], and hopefully, we can put them into practice in a couple of days’ time,” Ball told BBC Radio 5 live.
In the opening game at Pune, England bowlers failed to take an early advantage when India was reeling at 63 for four before Kohli and Kedar Jadhav smashed 200-run partnership to set the strong plinth while chasing the massive target of 351.
The 25-year-old promising fast bowler believes mixing the variation would help them to succeed in their plans as it would also be helpful for the fast bowlers to get benefitted while bowling under floodlights.
“I think that under the lights where it may skid on a bit more. You can use the shorter ball a little bit more. But I think it’s just trying to mix it up as much as you can, try not to let him get settled and hope he hits one up in the air,” Ball told BBC Radio 5 live.
The visitors were wayward in line and length when Kohli and Jhadav flayed the seam and spin attack to pile on more miseries for the English side.
“He [Virat] is an unbelievable player. We saw a lot of him in the Tests and he started the ODI series really well. We’ve got plans for him, and hopefully, we can put them into practice in a couple of days’ time,” Ball concluded.
The Nottinghamshire-born Ball has picked three wickets for conceding 67 runs in the first ODI for England at MCA Stadium Pune.
India is leading the three-match series 1-0.